Findings from Kent Law School Professor Sally Sheldon’s research project into the legal implications of abortion pills will be shared at an event to be held in London in March.
The event, entitled ‘How Can a State Control Swallowing? Medical Abortion and the Law.’ will be held at The Medical Society of London on Wednesday 23 March.
Professor Sheldon said: ‘Abortion pills have brought about a revolution in abortion provision, contributing to a significant decrease in maternal mortality worldwide and now accounting for over half of all legal terminations reported in Britain. This event, which is open to all, offers an overview of some of the findings from a recent research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), along with reactions and reflections from a range of commentators.’
The event will focus particularly on the UK and Ireland, a geographically contained site incorporating legal regimes that range from the most restrictive in Europe to among the most liberal. It will address a range of questions including: What impact do abortion pills have on how we understand abortion? How well is the use of pills accommodated within existing laws, such as the British Abortion Act (1967), that liberalise access to abortion only under very strict medical control? What do abortion pills mean for the enforcement of prohibitions against abortion? How, after all, can a state control swallowing? And what risks are involved in accessing pills online and what responsibility, if any, does a state have to help women to guard against those risks?
A discussion about medical abortion and British Law will be chaired by Dr Jennie Bristow (Canterbury Christ Church University) and will include contributions from: Dr Sam Rowlands (Bournemouth University); Dr Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat politician and former hospital doctor); Joanne Fletcher (Consultant Nurse in Gynaecology at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust); and Professor Jonathan Montgomery (University College London).
After a coffee break, a second discussion will focus on medical abortion in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and will be chaired by Marge Berer (Coordinator of the International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion). Contributors will include: Dr Goretti Horgan (University of Ulster); Dr Ruth Fletcher (Queen Mary University of London); Professor Joanna Erdman (Dalhousie University); and Dina Abbas (Gynuity Health Projects).
The event begins with a light lunch from 12.45pm and closes with a drinks reception from 5.15pm – 6pm. Attendance is free but numbers are limited and attendees must register online. A small number of bursaries are available to support the attendance of students with further detail available via klsresearch@kent.ac.uk.
Professor Sheldon teaches Health Care Law and Ethics to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Kent Law School. She is a leading expert and commentator on the regulation of abortion in the UK and contributed to a discussion about the decriminalisation of abortion at the House of Commons in October 2014. She is also a trustee of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. The Medical Abortion and the Law project is one of two research projects in this area. The second, recently awarded a £0.5m research grant by the AHRC, is a two-year historical study, entitled The Abortion Act (1967): a Biography.
Professor Sheldon has published widely in the area of health care ethics and law with books including Beyond Control: Medical Power and Abortion Law, a co-edited collection of essays on Feminist Perspectives on Health Care Law and a socio-legal study of fatherhood called Fragmenting Fatherhood, co-authored with Richard Collier of Newcastle Law School.